City of Fort Lauderdale
Incorporated on March 27, 1911, the City of Fort Lauderdale is situated on the southeast coast of Florida, centrally located between Miami and Palm Beach. Encompassing more than 33 square miles with a population of nearly 167,000, Fort Lauderdale is the largest of Broward County's 30 municipalities and the seventh largest city in Florida. Embraced by the Atlantic Ocean, New River and a myriad of scenic inland waterways, Fort Lauderdale truly lives up to its designation as the "Venice of America."

The Public Works Department's mission is "to achieve total customer satisfaction by providing quality public services." These public services include all water, wastewater, and stormwater activities throughout the City of Fort Lauderdale and several adjacent communities. All sanitation operations in the City are covered as well. In addition to operating and maintaining the facilities associated with these services, the department maintains all city-owned buildings, public streets and rights-of-way. This department, the largest provider of infrastructure service in Broward County, employs more than 500 professionals who currently serve a population of 300,000.

The City of Fort Lauderdale is known for its beautiful beaches and marine-related activities. The miles of waterways in the City are a major artery for its survival. Without them, tourism would drop and the City’s economic health could suffer. But every day, the City’s waterways are threatened by the possibility of stormwater runoff, the major contributor to surface water pollution.

In 1972, Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, known as the Clean Water Act, to prevent pollutants from reaching our nation’s waterways. An amendment to this Act in 1977 makes it unlawful to discharge any pollutant into navigable bodies of water without a permit. The City of Fort Lauderdale, like other cities, obtained a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to properly manage our waterways. The permit requires the City to develop and implement various stormwater management programs, monitor the pollution of our City’s waterways and increase public awareness to generate proactive behaviors that prevent stormwater pollution.

Projects that the City has been involved in to help the health of the North Fork include:

1. Swale Improvements – The City has a Save Our Swales program that has rehabilitated swales in many areas, and educates residents across the City how swales help reduce stormwater pollution.
2. Pollution Control Device planned for the New River – In the fourth quarter of 2006, the City plans to install a device that will greatly reduce the amount of pollution that enters the New River through our largest pump station.
3. Waterworks 2011 -- This is a comprehensive water and wastewater program with the goal of eliminating all of the remaining septic tanks in the City by 2011.
4. North Fork New River projects (SFWMD funded).  In 2005 and 2006, the City has received funding from SFWMD to remove sediment from outfalls, remove an aerial force main, and make improvements to North Fork Park.  All of these projects will serve to further improve the water quality of the North Fork.
5. North Fork Basin Management Plan (SFWMD & County).  The City is working with SFWMD and Broward County to develop a management plan for the North Fork which will identify key ways to improve the water quality.
6. NPDES Inspections.  The City inspects all construction projects over one acre to ensure that they are not contributing stormwater pollution to our waterways.  Inspections also include industrial facilities that have the potential to discharge stormwater pollution.
7. Stormwater Master Plan.  In 2006, the City will launch its comprehensive Stormwater Master Plan which will examine existing problems with water quality and quantity, and recommend a course of action for improvement.
8. Storm Drain Maintenance & Labeling.  The City continues to label all of its storm drains with “No Dumping, Drains to Waterway” stickers.
9. Outreach (Water Matters Day, Website, Community Events, Water Bill, HOA Newsletters)

http://www.broward.org/watermatters/

http://www.ci.ftlaud.fl.us/public_services/index.htm

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=91811